Jane Austen 's Pride And Prejudice

In the Regency Era, marriage was a necessity for both genders. Men and women looked for sensible spouses who would be socially acceptable to marry. During this time, it was not uncommon to arrange a marriage or marry for money or status. In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Collins and Charlotte Lucas illustrate the primary reason for marriage during the Regency Era: economics.

Set during the Regency period, Pride and Prejudice focuses on the upbringing of women in a male dominated society in which marriage was the only escape from destitution. For women, the story emphasizes the major motives behind matrimony such as financial stability, social pressure, and passion, but it ultimately embodies the idea that females are capable of marrying for true love. In the following pages, this essay will first provide background information about society during the English Regency and the marriage customs set for women during this time period. This essay will then offer a brief summary of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Finally, this essay will analyze the various motives of marriages presented between

In the 1800s women were confined to strict social obligations while men had more individual freedom. Austen highlights this notion to shed light on the unfair double standard. For example, women were subject to extreme pressures to find a husband and marry well. Mrs. Bennet’s continual stress to find husbands for her daughters shows the importance of marrying and more importantly, marrying well. After Elizabeth turns down Mr. Collins’ listless offer, Mrs. Bennet wails to Elizabeth saying, “‘But I tell you what, Miss Lizzy, if you take it into your head to go on refusing every offer of marriage in this way, you will never get a husband at all,’” (Austen, 78). While it is hard to justify Mrs. Bennet’s often overblown and melodramatic speeches,

In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen introduces the major thematic concept of marriage and financial wealth. Throughout the novel, Austen depicts various relationships that exhibit the two recurring themes. Set during the regency period, the perception of marriage revolves around a universal truth. Austen claims that a single man “must be in want of a wife.” Hence, the social stature and wealth of men were of principal importance for women. Austen, however, hints that the opposite may prove more exact: a single woman, under the social limitations, is in want of a husband. Through this speculation, Austen acknowledges that the economic pressure of social acceptance serves as a foundation for a proper marriage.

To marry for money and not love is frowned upon as a social norm, but is also seen as an opportunity for women to rise in the social hierarchy. Though, love is to be the reason why bonds like marriage exist. Being a woman in the nineteenth century limits social advancement and makes it seem impossible without wealth, a background of family fortune, or matrimony to a man labeled high class. Emma Woodhouse, from the novel Emma written by Jane Austen, defines what it means to seek stature through marriage and how couples can aid in contexts such as social groups. Austen clearly covers social groups in her novel, but making the novels focal point circumvent around Emma. We look beyond how class enables opportunity for women and see just how

During the time period of the 1800s in England, not only was the economic situation different but the social norms were differently. Jane Austen depicts this greatly in her novel pride and prejudice, not only was the social classes a big deal, but the marriage between families was a bigger deal. Throughout the novel many of the characters encounter this problem of, love in marriage or money in marriage, and many of the families and females within this time period choice money in marriage. The author Jane Austen feels that the idea of marring for money rather than love is preposterous and expresses this through the character Elizabeth

During the Regency Era in Britain, society tends to favor men over women on the matter of inheriting property through the practice of entailment. Single women during this time period are in danger if they are not married because once their father or male guardian dies, they would be homeless and penniless if they do not receive an inheritance to be finally secure. Because of this, many women would marry for money not love to not become a burden on their family and to protect themselves from destitution. In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen satirizes the concept of women who would marry for money and not for love by using irony, satire, understatement, and hyperbole. The message she conveys throughout the novel is that it is ridiculous to marry only

In this paper I argue how Jane Austen reflects society norms and constrains and how this can be translated into marriage. I question the nature of each of the four unions exposed by itemizing them and explaining the motives that made the characters make a decision about which compromise would benefit them the most, or not. I contradict the spread idea of arranged marriage- taking into account that there are some exceptions-, and how they could be based on love, or also money and other interests. To finish, I conclude by claiming that Victorian society made great impact on how people behave and the pressure they had to face. ¬Even though the main characters, and the relationship between them, are Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, this paper is concerned with four of the wedding that take place in the novel so to reflect what kind of engagements are exposed and their characteristics.

In Pride and Prejudice, pressures of society force women to marry just for money and wealth, but some of the women see marriage as more than just a “business.” For

Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is a canonical text set in Regency England which focuses on the Bennet family and their “business” to marry off their 5 daughters. Austen uses Elizabeth Bennet as the central character of this text to provide her insights on social divisions in her time. In Regency England, a woman’s marital status had a huge impact on their value in society and women who were not married were differentiated from society and were treated poorly. If a woman in Regency England was to be offered an advantageous proposal from a wealthy man it would be accepted blindly, however for Elizabeth Bennet it is not the case. Mr Darcy’s proposal to Elizabeth is rejected due to him being ‘unjust and ungenerous’.

In Victorian England marriage was a necessity. If a woman did not marry well, then she could not receive any of the advantages that a married woman received. Married women had financial security. Married women had an estate (with their husband) where they could host guests. Married women had children, and could fulfill the role of motherhood. Unmarried women did not have any of this, so from a young age girls learned how to become suitable wives. A suitable wife needed to know how to cook,clean house, sing, dance, play an instrument, become a hostess, and care for children. Once married, the role of a woman became caring for the household, no matter what her marriage looked like or why she married. In Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen shows her reader the importance of marriage through couples who married for varying reasons.

Marriage for the sake of fulfillment relates only to societal norms and not into romance or cohesive partnership. During the 19th century in Britain, the emotions were not driving the matrimony wagon, but rather wealth and class defined the game of marriage. Charlotte Lucas tells Elizabeth Bennet, “I am not a romantic...considering Mr. Collins’s character, connections, and situation in life...my chance of happiness with him...entering the marriage state” (109). Charlotte displays the elements of being fulfilled, connections and situation in life. “Marriage has always been her object: it was the only honorable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune” (107).

Weather they be an old woman or a young lady, marriage was a major aspect in the lives of all women in the early 19th century. In this female dominated novel women show many differences of personality and character but, all have a unique bond in their equal search and, overall motives of marriage. This among many other themes of Pride and Prejudice have made this novel stand out for over two centuries but, overall it is known for its romantic side, and the women who stand up for love as opposed to settling for

Through the use of literary devices, Pride and Prejudice reveals Jane Austen’s attitude towards the novel’s theme of true love through the actions of the suitors; the process of courtship in the 1800s articulates characterization, foreshadowing, and irony. The novel opens with the line, “it is a truth acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of wife,” (Austen 1) which foreshadows the conflict of finding a significant other . During the Victorian age, men and women courted others of the same education, wealth, and social status; it was considered uncommon for someone to marry beneath them or to marry for love. Jane Austen uses Elizabeth Bennett’s encounters with different characters of varying

Jane Austen’s well-known novel, Pride and Prejudice, discussed multiple social themes in the 19th century. Austen mainly criticized marriage during her era, when she says that, “it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife” (Austen 3). As she explains that it was valuable to women since it provided them with security and a social title. The author explored the diverse motives behind matrimony in her time period by using a humorous and romantic plot to discuss the social issues. For instance, Charlotte Lucas’s unreasonable marriage to Mr. Collins is a vital example of how women needed to secure a future and attain social status. To conclude, Lydia Bennet’s meaningless marriage to George Wickham shows that entering the marriage estate could have also been for mainly financial purposes. Contrastingly, Jane Bennet, the heroine’s older sister, marries Charles Bingley for love, security, and a social ranking. On the other hand, Elizabeth Bennet marries Fitzwilliam Darcy after months of misunderstandings and romantic drama for none other than true love. Thus, Austen uses her leading characters’ marriages in Pride and Prejudice to exhibit the various attitudes and reasons for marrying in the 19th century. (Lane 2015)